I went back into my shell; the shell that Draco had coaxed me out of just five months before. I kept my gaze down when walking in the halls, I moved back to my secluded spot in my classes, and I sat at the end of the Slytherin table for meals.

It was almost like those five months didn’t even happen, a dream or a fantasy that I had created in my head. The only difference was that I wasn’t the only one to distance myself this time; a certain blonde haired boy was doing the same.

He missed classes for a couple of days, and decided that he would become mute. I watched as Pansy and Blaise tried to bring him into their conversation, but he just pushed his food around his plate. His eyes were red, with purple circles underneath, telling me he as been in just as much pain as I was.

He did try talking to me on more than one occasion. Each time I ended up ignoring him, or I started yelling. There was a moment where I did slap him across the face, the red outline of my hand imprinted on his cheek.

That was one of the last time I had contact with him; I watched as his chest tightened and his eyes held sorrow. He brought his hand up to his cheek, still feeling the sting of the hit.

I remember him ruffling his hair, telling me he was nervous, before he spoke softly.

“I’m sorry, Charlie. I never wanted to hurt you.”

With that, he walked away, down the hall and out of my life. I remember bracing the stonewall, sliding down it until I sat on the floor. My body racked with tears that I had held in since that day, but couldn’t hold it in anymore.

I skipped the rest of my classes, and cried myself to sleep in the deserted hallways. I later woke up in my bed, not knowing how I had gotten there. I felt something move against my chest, pulling out the chain that held the heart and snake that Draco had given me.

The snake moved rapidly, telling me that Draco was thinking about me. The stone eyes had two different colors, one being red and the other being blue. The wheels in my head started turning, trying to remember what Draco had said those colors meant.

Then it hit me; blue meant he missed me and red was he needed me. I instantly ripped it off, opened my night table drawer and threw it in. It’s still there, not daring to touch or look at it since.

I could take him back, but I’m not sure if I can look past this. He could have told me about the bet, and said he didn’t want to continue, but he chose not too. Instead he did exactly what the bet entailed, so who’s to say he wasn’t faking it the whole time?

I let out a heavy sigh, “This is going to be a long rest of the year.”

#

The rest of my fourth year dragged on until the end, but surprisingly, my fifth year was much better. I ended up branching out from my own house, to find something better. I wasn’t going to be alone again; I was making sure of that.

I caught wind of a secret group called Dumbledore’s Army, over hearing two Gryffindor’s whispering about the upcoming meeting in Hogheads.

The next Hogsmead visit, I made my way towards the old pub finding a good size crowd hovering around the Golden Trio. When I walked in, all eyes turned to me, most of them glaring.

I watched as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, angry at his rude behavior. I opened my mouth to defend myself when someone came to my rescue.

“Isn’t the whole reason for this group to get passed the prejudice? I personally think it would be nice to have a Slytherin in our ranks.” Luna said in her dreamy voice.

Ron turned red, “Not likely, Luna, she hangs around with Malfoy.”

It was my turn to glare at Ron, my fists clenched with anger as tears threatened to spill.

“I did, Ron. Passed tense. Now, I couldn’t care less about the Slytherin Prince. I am here because I’m fighting for the right side like the rest of you. Just because I wear green robes and sleep in the dungeons, does not mean I associate with that lot.”

Hermione put her hand on Ron’s shoulder, silencing him from saying anymore.

“She’s right, Ron. You heard what Malfoy did to her, and before that she was always by herself.” She turned and looked at me, “Charlotte, we would be honored if a Slytherin joined us.”

She gestured to the parchment in front of her, all ready filled with people’s signatures. I made my way up to the table, and grabbed the quill. I thought better of it, and put it down.

I held out my hand for the trio to shake, “Truce?”

All of them agreed, Ron hesitating, but doing the same as Hermione and Harry. I smiled softly and picked up the quill again.

Hermione spoke before I made contact with the paper, “Just so you know, once you sign this, you will be magically bonded to it. If you tell anyone that isn’t here now about this group, there will be consequences.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Hermione.” I smiled at her and copied what the others wrote.

I, Charlotte Bay Peverell, give my loyalties to Dumbledore’s Army and the people within it.

He nodded his head, “Alright Charlie, step back with everyone else, and we will get started.”

In that moment, I was finally accepted for me. I learned so much from Harry, and gained a few friends along the way. Hermione and I had gotten very close, and regularly were with each other. To be honest, not many people gave us a second look seeing as I was back to being invisible.

Within a couple of months, the evil woman in pink had found our hiding spot. She blew up the wall as her "followers" tried to round up as much of us as possible.

I remember strong arms grab my waist from behind. I started kicking, and thrashing, not going down with out a fight. I was pulled out into the hall and pushed against the wall.

"Charlie, don't move!" A familiar voice hit my ears.

I looked up to find Draco in front of me, looking around frantically.

"Draco?" I whipsered.

His head snapped back to me, "Charlie, please stay here! You don't know what Dolores is capable of!"

I glared at him, "I'm not going to be a coward. I'll take my punishment that is given!"

"Char..."

"Malfoy! Did you get anyone?" I heard the voice come from down the hall.

He sighed, "Please play along?"

I just glared in responce, as I tried to get him to release his grip on my wrist.

"Oh, who do we have here?" A sickly nice voice said.

"Charlotte Peverell, ma'am. She was just walking by when..."

"No, I was not just walking by, Malfoy." I finally freed my arm, "I'm just as involved as the others."

Umbridge glared at Draco, "Lying to me, Mr. Malfoy? Tsk Tsk, well I know how to deal with liars! Follow me, both of you."

We did as we were told, our fate involving an enchanted quill and the backs of our hands holding a fresh scar. Draco was 'let go' from Umbridge's ranks, and he slowly was outcasted from the Slytherins.

I actually was feeling bad for the blonde haired boy. Since joining the DA, I had taken to sitting with Hermione at the Gryffindor table, and Draco over took my old spot. Most people just whsipered about him, giving him evil looks.

Sometimes, our eyes would meet from across the room. Every time he would get up and leave the Great Hall, his head low and his hands in his pockets. I finally decided to sit with my back towards him, feeling his gaze burn into my body.

The best part about my fifth year, though, was masturing how to do a patronus. I didn’t think I would manage, seeing as I had very few memories that were tarnished with bad ones, but I was successful.

The only issue was what form it took; a dragon.

They say that soul mates have the same patronus, and seeing as Draco’s name in Latin means dragon, I couldn’t help but make the connection instantly.

We were on the train for our sixth year, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I all sharing a compartment and discussing our summers. I wasn’t officially apart of the Golden Trio, because Golden Quad didn’t sound as good, but we were all friends nonetheless.

Hermione and I were reading silently as Harry seemed to be frustrated with something. He kept running his hand through his hair, making it stand up on the ends.

I closed my book, marking it so I wouldn’t lose my page before I turned to the boy besides me.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

He gave me a confused look, “A penny?”

Realizing my mistake, I explained quickly, “American money.”

He seemed to understand, but looked as if he was debating with himself whether or not he wanted to tell me.

“I…I really shouldn’t say, Charlie.”

“Well, you either say it, or stop fidgeting.”

He looked over at Hermione, silently begging for her permission. She sighed heavily before looking at me.

“We…we saw something the other day, that was…odd.”

I raised my eyebrow, wanting her to continue, but didn’t want to interrupt.

“In Knockturn Alley, well…um…”

She looked at Harry for help, “Malfoy’s a deatheater.”

Hermione stood up quickly, “Harry! You have no proof of that!”

“Then what was he doing in Burgin and Burkes?”

“He…They…I don’t know! Ugh!” She sat down again, her head in her hands.

My heart was pounding fast at the mention of his name. Was he a deatheater?

“Harry, Draco isn’t a deatheater.” I said, “He doesn’t want to become his father.”

Ron chose that moment to speak up, “No offense, Charlie, but ever since you two broke up, he’s been distancing himself. What’s to say he did it when he was angry and hurt? I’m not sticking up for the ferret or saying it’s your fault in the slightest, but I agree with Harry.”

I rolled my eyes at this, “Ron, really. I know Draco; he wouldn’t do this to himself! He didn’t want it!”

We didn’t stop him, because we were all curious as whether or not the blonde Slytherin had, in fact, taken the dark mark.

#

We arrived at the platform some hours later, and Harry had yet to join us. Ron insisted that he was already out there, waiting for us, but I had a feeling in my gut that Draco had found him. I told the other two that I was going to use the loo quick, and I would meet them later that evening.

I went through every compartment, not seeing the boy who lived anywhere, until I reached the open compartments in the front of the train.

I tripped over something that was invisible when I started to panic and run down the aisle. In my haste, I had pulled the cloak off of Harry, but he was frozen on the floor.

“Finite!”

Harry started to move, and propped himself on his elbow. I noticed his nose was broken, and blood was trickling out.

I nodded, and we both exited the train quickly. We checked in with one of our professors, and got onto the last carriage available. We realized what a mistake that was, because with the person we were sharing this small space with, I would have rather walked.

“Nice nose, Potter.” Draco almost spit at him before he smirked.

I put two and two together and realized that Draco had broken Harry’s nose. I guess he did find him.

I turned to Harry and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I can fix that for you, if you like.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Draco stiffen. Harry just nodded, and turned to my fully so I had better access.

I pulled out my wand, and ran it carefully over his nose, numbing it so he wouldn’t feel a thing.

“Episky.” His nose cracked back into place before my eyes. I grabbed a hanky from my back pocket, and handed it to Harry. He smiled graciously, before leaning his head back against the seat.

Light suddenly entered the carriage, bringing my attention to the soft glow of a fox patronus.

He bit his lip, and pulled on his left sleeve, “Will you tell her I said for her to get better soon?”

“Of course I will.”

He nodded and turned his gaze to the growing castle. I shared a look with Harry, before taking it upon myself to vanish the blood from his shirt. He smiled gratefully, clinging onto his cloak when the carriage stopped.

Harry got out first, followed by Draco, and then me seeing as I was the farthest from the door. I was surprised to see a pale hand already extended to help me out of the carriage.

I took it without a second thought, feeling a spark run through my arm as I did so. I held on for a moment too long, treasuring the familiar feeling of Draco’s hand holding mine.

I smiled at him, “Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything, but nodded. He let go of my fingers, and made his way up the stone steps. I watched his retreating back, bringing myself back to the moment when we first met.

I sighed longingly, but pushed the feelings aside. I followed him, knowing that this year was going to be a long one.